Mental Model: The Illusion of Choice I found myself in a situation today that illustrated the powerful concept of a specific mental model known as the illusion of choice. This theme, of course, is familiar to anyone who has watched The Matrix trilogy, from the scene wherein the architect explains that the key to keeping…

A few days ago, I was reading a psychology study that discussed the difference between the physical brains of men and women and the real-world implications of these differences. [mainbodyad]The best way to summate the data was the example of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. As he was shot, the typical response of…

In a major peer-reviewed study from Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton from the Center for Health and Well-being at Princeton University, the great debate of psychology – can money buy happiness? – has finally been answered. It turns out, it can up to a point. This isn’t some quick news poll either, it is a…

Mental Model: Veblen Goods In today’s installment of our mental models catalog, we are going to discuss Veblen goods, which are a special type of item that would appear, at first glance, to violate the law of supply and demand relationships to prices. Veblen goods are a type of commodity, product or service for which…

Mental Model: Social Loafing If you were starting a project or business, common sense would tell you that you could produce 5x as much output if there were five people working on your goals than if there were just one person. If you are running a counseling program, ten counselors should be able to do…

Mental Model: Goldovsky Errors How can a dead body hang in a tree for nearly 14 hours and not be noticed by a town? How can experts at one of the world’s top scientific institutions miss an easy-to-spot mistake for almost 30 years yet a 5th grader spots in 2008 after only a few seconds? …

Mental Model: The Dunning–Kruger Effect Have you ever wondered why some people come to erroneous conclusions despite all the counter evidence, overestimate their abilities, and constantly make mistakes whereas other, more intelligent people often claim ignorance and throw things on the “too hard” pile? The reality is that not everyone in a given population can…

Mental Models: Hobson’s Choice, Morton’s Fork, and Burdian’s Ass Hobson’s Choice: A free choice in which only one option is offered; i.e., “take it or leave it”. Morton’s Fork: Is a choice between two equally unpleasant alternatives (in other words, a dilemma) or two lines of reasoning that lead to the same unpleasant conclusion. It…

Mental Model: The Revolution of Satisfied Expectations The Revolution of Satisfied Expectations: “Research conducted by Daniel Kahneman of Princeton University, and by others who have come to approximately the same conclusion, shows that most people judge their well-being not by measuring where they stand but rather based on whether they think their circumstances and income…

John Robinson of the University of Maryland and Geoffrey Godbey of Penn State University have done research showing that “Americans now have more free time than at any point in the nation’s history.” They calculate that since 1960, the average American has gained 5 hours of free time per week even after adjusting for women entering the work force.

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